"I have never ever seen anything like the adulation that he's treated by Filipinos in the Philippines and all over the world. That's something that even Ali never really had, that type of frenzy with 90 million people in the Philippines and 11 million Filipino people around the world. As far as Oscar's concerned, Oscar was popular in the United States," stated promoter Bob Arum as he spoke about the world-wide popularity of 6-division world champion Manny Pacquiao during a conference call with the media earlier today. Having worked with several boxing icons throughout the years, Arum compared Pacquiao's fame to that of Muhammad Ali and Oscar De La Hoya, giving the nod to the Filipino superstar over his counterparts.
"Ali was a proponent of a political position and also was a spokesman, became a spokeman for the civil rights movement at the time when it was really emerging into everbody's vision, so Ali had a tremendous political impact and particularly his stance on the Vietnam war. When he was able to come back and fight, people just idolized him," Arum commented as he reflected on Ali's impact in the world. He continued, "Manny Pacquiao does not have that major political statement because he is not controversial, but he is engaged in politics in the Philippines and everything that he does is very pro-humanity so he is rather loved by people in the Philippines, in the United States, all over the world and to that extent, he's really crossed over into the American public. I mean, the people know who Manny Pacquiao is and he's generally admired, but I have never ever seen anything like the adulation that he's treated by Filipinos in the Philippines and all over the world. That's something that even Ali never really had, that type of frenzy with 90 million people in the Philippines and 11 million Filipino people around the world."
While it may be hard to believe at first, Arum is absolutely right when you look at the numbers. The Philippines is the 12th most populated country in the world, so with 92 million people there and another 11 million around the world, it's no surprise that Pacquiao might be loved and adored more by a greater population than the great Muhammad Ali. Personally though, I'd give the edge to Ali as I think he would be more recognized across the board than Pacquiao, but still, it's a valid point.
As for Oscar De La Hoya, Arum thinks it's not even close and there's no comparison. "As far as Oscar's concerned, Oscar was popular in the United States. He was good-looking. He was charismatic. He was a good fighter, but his popularity was pretty much limited to the United States. Now, that made him an awful lot of money, but around the world, he didn't have the recogntion of either Ali or Manny."
More valid points brought up by Arum, particularly the one about making an awful lot of money. So, is Manny Pacquiao more popular than Ali and Oscar De La Hoya?
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